Hannah Bond

In the summer of 2019, Hannah Bond came to Hospice of Washington County as an intern, shadowing the medical social worker there.

“While I was there for that summer, I did the volunteer training courses,” Bond said.

Since that summer, she has been volunteering with the organization.

The COVID-19 pandemic has limited her opportunities to volunteer in person with the clients, but she still finds ways to help.

“We get emails and correspond and volunteer with any fundraisers they’re hosting or and clients or patients who need cards sent to them or phone calls — just anything of that nature,” she said.

She acknowledged that she was nervous about volunteering at first, but she quickly realized that, as a hospice volunteer, she plays a special role.

“It’s very much an honor to be involved at the end of someone’s life,” Bond said. “It’s families together talking about this person’s life and all the good that they did in their lives.

“It makes me feel closer to my community as I get to know these families when they are going through something really hard. It makes me appreciate my family more and makes me think about what more I can do to make someone else feel special.”

She said that two of the most important qualities of a hospice volunteer are flexibility and patience.

“The schedule is never going to be consistent, because health can decline or change quickly,” She said. “People are feeling a lot of different emotions, and you need to be able to deal with them calmly.”

Bond said that there is a “very special atmosphere” at Hospice of Washington County.

“All the people who work at Hospice of Washington County are really nice and a great team,” she said. “Working with the clients and their families is very special.”